


so take this heart (put yourself in it)

by unusannus



Series: story of another us [2]
Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Dealing With Trauma, Episode: s04e02 Korra Alone, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, a lil alternative to the original episode, some cuddles, they’re working through their problems
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-24
Updated: 2020-10-24
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:20:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,835
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27170302
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unusannus/pseuds/unusannus
Summary: Korra visits Asami late at night for no good reason.
Relationships: Korra/Asami Sato
Series: story of another us [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1983224
Comments: 7
Kudos: 128





	so take this heart (put yourself in it)

**Author's Note:**

> this could be read on its own or as a sort of part 2 to the previous work in the series.

Korra has no idea how she got here, in Asami’s room, broken and bruised. She has half a mind to reprimand her for leaving her balcony doors unlocked, but it’s what let her inside without causing any ruckus so she digresses. 

Steadying herself on the cotton bed, she clutches her side. The pain from the fighting match lingers even hours later. She wonders briefly if it’ll ever truly go away. She tries to think of an excuse as to why she ended here. Could she just tell the truth? She was tired and lonely. Asami had been the first person to pop into her head when she allowed herself to come back to Republic City. The girl had always been incredibly kind to her when it was not deserved.

Though she guesses that’s what friends were for, to love you when the worthiness of such an act had dissipated.

The door swings open in one swift motion, Korra’s eyes shoot up in an instant to meet Asami’s. She looks preoccupied, a pen hanging from her lips as she studies a stack of papers in her hands. Korra’s light gasp of surprise tears her attention away from them.

“Wh-” She starts, shocked, “Korra?” The papers fall from her hands and she pulls the pen from her mouth, not saying anything else.

“Hi, I -uh- didn’t mean to barge in like this, but-” Korra grunts as arms are thrown over her shoulders with more force than she could have ever anticipated. Freezing, she can’t bring herself to reciprocate the action.

Asami releases a shaky breath, one that sends shivers down Korra’s neck, “Where the hell have you been?” She sniffs, as if to stop herself from crying, “I missed you, you dummy.”

Finally, Korra forces herself to pat Asami’s back before separating herself from the girl, “You dropped your papers.” She points out dumbly, and if Asami notices how she dodges the question, she doesn’t comment on it.

Asami rolls her eyes, a smile threatening to appear,“Really? That’s your focus right now?”

Korra shrugs, “Hey,  _ you’re  _ the business woman here, shouldn’t you be concerned too?”

“I’m more concerned about why my friend who I haven’t seen in three years is suddenly in my room with no explanation.”

“I’m sorry.” Korra mumbles, looking down, “I didn’t know where else to go. I was just…” She trails off.

_ I’m scared and lonely. _

“I wanted to see you, that’s all.” Korra finishes, fiddling with her fingers. Her knuckles are a bright red, some still actively bleeding. She wipes them on her shirt, not caring to get it dirty.

Asami smiles softly at her, in that way that makes Korra feel all warm and fuzzy inside, “Well, I’m glad you did.” She steps closer and sits beside her. Bringing a hand to her cheek, she asks, “Who did this to you?” 

At first, Korra’s confused, but then she remembers the black eye her opponent had given her. She can’t help leaning into Asami’s gentle touch unconsciously. Then, she realizes what’s happening and backs away, clearing her throat, “It’s nothing, just a little street brawl. I’ll be fine.” As if on cue, pain sears through her body when something hits her side.

“Just a little street brawl, huh?” Comes Asami’s voice, a teasing tone to it.

Korra grits her teeth, trying hard to push the pain down, “Did you just hit me?” She attempts and fails to stand up without almost tumbling down. Asami’s hands steady her.

“I wanted to check if you were lying and, surprise, you  _ were _ .” She scoffs, settling her back onto the bed, “Honestly, Korra, you need to stop thinking you can handle anything on your own. Let me help.” 

Standing, Asami leaves, returning with a first aid kit and an ice pack. She sits once again, opening the kit, then handing Korra the ice, “Put that on your eye.” She orders her.

Korra does as she’s told, wincing slightly as the cold meets her hot skin. She spares a glance at Asami as she digs through the container of medical supplies, “You don’t have to do this, you know. I only wanted to say hi and then get out of your hair.” Deep down, Korra knows that she’s lying, and maybe Asami does too. She’s not sure what she expected from this reunion. Maybe she needed to actually talk to someone for once, about what, she still didn’t really know.

“If you weren’t already hurt enough, I’d punch you again.” 

Korra chuckles dryly, “Please don’t.” She doesn’t try to resist the urge to smile. It’s something that had become a rarity ro herself. She can’t recall the last time it had happened.

“Alright, let me see your hands.” Asami tells her. Korra reluctantly presents them to her and she begins rubbing alcohol wipes over the red mess that is her knuckles, “Sorry if it stings.”

Korra almost doesn’t hear her apology, too focused on how close their hands are. Finally, she realizes what’s been said and quickly replies, “It’s okay. Thanks for helping me out. You really didn’t have to.” The nagging voice in her head tells her that it’s weak to accept this kind of help. She does her best to ignore it, or at least push it down even further.

“I know.” Asami admits, a light blush appearing on her face, “I wanted to. I don’t like seeing you hurt.” She finishes cleaning Korra’s knuckles and digs out a white roll of bandages from the first aid, “You should keep them wrapped for a day or two, just to be safe.”

As she begins to wrap her hands, Korra thinks about the first part of what she had said.

_ I don’t like seeing you hurt. _

It was probably nothing. It meant nothing more than being worried for a friend. She needed to remember that. Asami would never feel that way. She couldn’t, and even if she did, that didn’t mean she’d ever pick Korra. 

She removes the ice pack from her eye as her arm began to feel sore, “I’m  _ always  _ safe.” She quips, a lopsided smile creeping on her face.

“Don’t you dare lie to me.” Asami demands, finishing with the bandages. Her tone is light as she lets go of Korra’s hands, “Seriously, please refrain from fighting anyone until you’re better.” 

Raising her hands in defense, Korra assures her, “Okay, okay, I won’t.” Asami’s raised eyebrow seemed to think differently and without thinking Korra clasped their hands together once more, “Hey, I promise. I’ll be okay.” The other girl visible relaxes at the action, nodding once.

Korra glances at the balcony, doors still wide open, “It’s getting late. I should get going.” She begins to stand before Asami stops her.

“What? You’re leaving already? It’s too late to be out.”

“I don’t want to bother you any-”

Asami interrupts, “You’re never a bother, Korra. Stay the night. I don’t mind.” 

Korra can feel herself tense up at the words she had been dreading to hear. It’s not that she didn’t want to sleep over at Asami’s. She wasn’t sure how well she could handle it, what with her whole weird crush thing she had going on. The last thing she wanted was to mess up their already fragile friendship.

She runs a hand through her short hair, “I don’t know…” 

“Please? I missed you. We can talk more in the morning.” Asami pleads, a pout appearing on her face and it’s enough to almost make Korra buckle over, so she can only sit back down, not missing the victorious grin Asami has as she does so.

She doesn’t have it in her heart to tell Asami that she doesn’t plan on staying longer than the night. She couldn't risk anymore of her friends and family finding out she had returned to Republic City unannounced, not when she wasn’t even at her best. That wasn’t a conversation she looked forward to.

Korra sighs, tension leaving her body as she meets Asami’s gaze. The girl’s presence always seemed to calm her down, and right now she yearned for that more than anything else. 

“I’ll get you some of my pyjamas.” Asami lets her know as she opens the door to her enormous closet, bringing out some sweatpants and a t-shirt. She hands the clothes to Korra who goes into the bathroom to change. Putting the pants on, she realizes that they’re smaller than she thought, the ends stopping above her ankles. She shrugs it off and is relieved that the shirt fits well enough.

Before she can walk out, she catches a glimpse of herself in the mirror. Her bruised eye looked worse than she thought, and her cheeks had a sunken expression to them. She hadn’t been taking the best care of herself, but to really take it all in was a whole other ordeal. As soon as she senses the oncoming tears, she rubs them away without a second thought. Asami had already seen her look like shit. She didn’t need a crying Korra to add to it.

When she steps out, Asami is already in her own sleep clothes, Korra tugs self-consciously at the almost too tight shirt absentmindedly. The couch in the corner of the bedroom catches her eye and she begins to fluff up the pillow, trying and failing to make it as comfortable as possible. The idea of sharing a bed with Asami was becoming as enticing as it was terrifying. 

“What are you doing?”

With her back turned, Korra can almost bring herself to lie and say she doesn’t want to share a bed, but she can’t bring herself to utter words that she doesn’t mean. Instead, she faces Asami head on, “I’m sleeping on the couch.” She tells her matter of factly, as if it was something they had already discussed.

Asami tilts her head, puzzled and if Korra wasn’t experiencing an internal crisis she might’ve thought it was cute, “What do you mean? We can share the bed.” She insists, patting the empty space next to her and it’s enough for Korra to want to scream at how nonchalant she was acting.

“Oh, okay.” Korra replies, not wanting to make it a bigger deal than Asami probably thought it should be. She just needed to keep it cool and get through the night without having another breakdown.

Crawling under the covers, Korra does her best to keep a reasonable distance between their bodies. It wasn’t too difficult thanks to Asami’s king sized bed that she didn’t really need to be king sized (oh, to be rich). She struggles to close her eyes as Asami clicks off the lamp on her nightstand, muttering out a good night that Korra quietly repeats back.

It’s not easy to lull herself to sleep when she’s busy trying to stay as stiff as a piece of cardboard for fear of disturbing the other girl. 

She opens them again to the dark room, illuminated by the moon outside the balcony. It’s only after a few minutes that Asami speaks up out of the blue, “I think I can hear you physically vibrating.” She teases Korra, who is grateful that the dark hides the pink hue on her face. Fuck, was she seriously  _ that  _ obvious?

“S-sorry.” Korra stutters out, at a loss for words.

Asami giggles, and shifts her body to face Korra and she’s too scared to do the same. “You don’t need to be so far away, just get comfortable, okay?” She realizes that Korra still isn’t looking at her and gently tugs at her arms from underneath the sheets, “Hey, you can relax with me. Nothing bad is going to happen.”

_ That’s what you think,  _ Korra snaps back in her head. Paranoia was no stranger to her, but to have it happen in front of Asami wasn’t ideal, so she sucks it up and scoots closer to her. As she finally adjusts herself well enough, she meets Asami’s caring gaze. Without another word, they both drift off to sleep. 

**_____**

_ Zaheer is right on her tail, almost breathing down her neck. She’s running. She’s running so fast she barely gives herself time to catch her breath as the two jump over shaky towers of rock.  _

_ Korra doesn’t know how much longer she can go on like this. Her insides burn like fire. The numbness spread all over her body. She can only run for so long. _

_ Not a second later she’s hit in her side with a strong gust of wind, causing her to fall over with a groan. The hard earth beneath her should be easy enough to bend, but she can barely keep her eyes open as he stands over her with a sick smirk. _

_ An air bubble begins to form around her. Her lungs deflate as he begins sucking the life out of her and she cannot do anything to stop it. She’s weak, so incredibly weak.  _

_ And there is no one who can help her. _

**_____**

Shooting upright with a gasp, Korra grasps at her throat, needing to make sure that she can still breathe. She leans her head forward with widened eyes, breaths leaving in short spurts as she senses the oncoming panic attack. 

_ No, not here. _ She can’t do this to Asami. She can’t let her see how fragile she has become

“Korra?” Comes a drowsy voice from beside her, “What’s wrong?” 

Great, now she’s woken her up. Could she not go even one night without being a burden to others?

Korra doesn’t answer her, she  _ can’t  _ answer. She can only look over at Asami with terror as her hands shake with fear. 

Asami seems to get that she’s panicking and immediately wraps an arm around her shoulder, whispering, “Hey, hey, it’s okay. You’re safe here with me.” She caresses her cheek with her other hand, “I got you. Breathe, Korra. Just breathe with me.” Asami softly grabs Korra’s chin to make her look at her. She takes a few exaggerated breaths, hoping that Korra will follow, and eventually she does. 

“Good. You’re doing good.” Asami assures her in between breaths.

After one or two more, Korra can finally say, “I-I had a nightmare.” Asami’s eyebrows furrow in concern, and Korra realizes that she means well, but the sense of weakness digs its way out of her before she can think rationally. She all but shoves the hand away from her skin, ignoring the slight hurt in Asami’s expression.

She gingerly touches her neck, still concerned over having it crushed by Zaheer, “I couldn’t breathe.” She can’t bring herself to make any more direct eye contact, instead looking at the couch she should’ve slept in from across the room. She swallows roughly, pushing down the urge to cry. This was not the time.

Asami asks, “Do you want to talk about it?” with all the conviction of someone who cares and yet Korra can’t believe that she does. 

Shaking her head, Korra waves her away, “ Not really.” She clenches her fists to keep from shaking so much, “You should go back to sleep.” She tells Asami, deep down hoping that she refuses because she doesn’t want to spend another minute by herself. She had done too much of that already. 

A gentle hand wraps around her hardened fist, “I’ll stay up with you as long as you need it.”

“You don’t have to do that-”

“I know.” Asami cuts her off, “I want to.” It’s the second time she’s said that tonight, and it’s not any less powerful to Korra. 

Korra can’t stop the single tears that escape as she hears those words, so simple, but so essential to her well-being. She lays back down onto the pillows and can feel Asami do the same, except much closer this time. Without another word, their hands stay together as they snuggle in closer with each other. Korra can’t say she’s sure what this all means. It’s scary how whole she feels there, in the bed with Asami, like she’d been missing this crucial piece of herself the entire time she’s been healing.

  
  


**_____**

When Asami wakes up the next morning, it’s to an empty bed. The ruffled sheets are the only sign of her visitor from the night before. She tries to not dwell on it too much, understanding that Korra had all the reasons in the world to not stay any longer than necessary. The ache in her heart still hurts nonetheless.

On her bedside table, she discovers a small note, scrawled in the messy handwriting she had grown familiar to from their past letters. She plucks it up to read it over.

**Thank you for everything. Please don’t tell Mako or Bolin that you’ve seen me, at least not yet. I know it’s selfish to ask you to wait for me, but, please, wait for me.**

**p.s You should really keep your balcony doors locked from now on.**

**\- Korra**

Asami doesn’t realize she’s crying until the salty tears reach her chin.

**Author's Note:**

> there may be a part 3 that’ll mark the end of this series, but it’s yet to be written so bear with me. 
> 
> thanks for reading!


End file.
